A Holy Dance

True worship is first initiated by God. The Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit dance in syncretic unity, a beauty beyond description. This Holy Dance radiates and illuminates the universe like a solar flare into the whole being on His image bearers. This immeasurable and majestic love dispensed from the dance to His creation in unquenchable fashion is never ending as the Holy is always pursuing. Next comes our expression of such an awesome display and intimate encounter given out of an abundance of grace reveals the condition of the soul. Worship is our response to what already IS, a complete surrender to and response of His presence, His unfathomable adoration for us. This response is determined by our capacity to embrace, embody and reflect back to Him this glorious presence. Idolatry in its many facets lessens our capacity to receive and reflect what is constantly being expressed to us. Our lives are like an instrument of the soul that plays music in a grand symphony that enhances the Holy Dance. My thoughts, words and actions are the musical notes that my life plays. The more immersed in and fill with Him the sweeter the musical offering and the more pleasurable the Dance. As this Dance continues in harmonious precision the more His majestic presence is revealed. It is His being and my spirit, melody and harmony fused together in a glorious crescendo that never ends, but continues to build as do His mercies every morning.  

Lord may my life be a sweet sound, beautiful music for your Holy Dance. I ask for more capacity in my life to receive your awesome presence that I may reflect in a harmonious manner Your glory that is due to your name. Help me to worship you in spirit and in truth, a living sacrifice, one that is pleasing to you in every way.   

Amen

Relational Tips:

• Ask: Does this person enhance, encourage, & energize my relationship with Jesus or do they drain, discourage, and or deflect my relationship with Jesus? Relationships start off “all about God” but as they progress, God gets more lip service then actual service. 
• Determine the health of your relationship with Jesus…it will be a reflection of how you love others. Are you shallow, fake or distant with people? That is how you truly are with Jesus.
• Don’t play games: no manipulating, lying, compromising… be real with yourself, God and others
• Don’t settle for second best! You are God’s best, (See Ephesians 2:10) you and your kids need someone who is a great example of Jesus not Judas.

Being the Voice of the Word

When the prophet would declare, “Thus saith the Lord” there was a sense of awe, direction and finality. People were attuned to hearing from the Lord on their behalf. It wasn’t until Centuries later that the voice of the Lord no longer resonated in the hearts of the people. Scholars call this the silent period, the 400 or so years where there was no prophetic word from the Lord. The “silence” was broken when the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. There was no longer a need for a sacred mouthpiece, only a manifestation of life through the Holy Incarnate. God’s voice was now spoken in a different form, first in infant cooing to squeaky adolescence then in bold and gracious tones of a man. The Word incarnate changed the way the people heard from God. This change was incomprehensible for the throngs who were skeptical at best that God would ever speak again until His Messiah arrived. This tradition based perspective made hearing even more obscure. John, known as the baptizer, raised the potential of a new prophet a new vehicle for God to once again speak to his beloved people. Unlike the many false prophets who claimed “thus saith the Lord” and were soon exposed and eliminated, John had an authoritative persona about him that caused the religious leaders, those “in the know” about such things to question his identity. “The Messiah?”…No, was the reply. “The Prophet?” Again “no”. “Then who are you because you have us utterly perplexed?” I am only the one who points you to the real Word of the Lord. Your dull hearing has caused you to miss the Word who has come.

If you are like me, it is easy to look at the religious leaders with utter distain. How can they be so blind so deaf to the things of God and to His incarnate son standing in their midst? But wait a minute, if you really are like me you too either miss Jesus’ living word in your midst, or you ignore it as not pertaining to your life situation. Let me clarify, have you ever witnessed a person in need and instead of helping you pretended you were too busy or you looked the other way as if they were not there? (That was Jesus you missed). (See Matthew 25:31-46) What about the many times after you had a great quiet time with God, heard a challenging message or your heart was stirred by the lyrics of a song and instead of expressing that word you held on to it or maybe even forgot it as life continued its negative barrage on your soul. God’s word is to be both pondered and expressed. Pondered so that it has a chance to form Christ in you, and expressed so that it has a chance to be sown into the life of others, bringing His good news, His healing, peace, joy, etc... When you speak the Word, you unleash the Spirit of Christ into the situation, people are either convicted, blessed or both but are never the same. I challenge you to be the incarnate Word everywhere you go; be constantly immersed in Him, filled with Him and overflowing with Him so that your life will reveal Him and glorify Him.  

Praying God's Word for Others

^{Praying God’s Word for Others}

⁹ So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.¹⁰ Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. ¹¹ We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,

Colossians 1:9-11 (NLT)

•        So what do you pray for those within your sphere of influence: kids, co-workers, friends, family. Etc.  

We ask God....what do we ask for?

•        1. To give them complete knowledge of his will. What is God's will? Ask: God what is on your heart? We know from Matthew 22:37-39; what is paramount on His heart. Love the Lord… We also see in Matthew 25:40 (Parable of the sheep and the goats that what you do to others you are doing it to Jesus. So how are you loving Jesus? If you want to find God's will, ask the question: does this truly cause me to love God and loves others more? How does this choice bring glory to God? What biblical concept or passage are you basing this on?

We ask God…

•        2. To give them spiritual wisdom and understanding. Jas.1:5 ask God for wisdom and He will give it. When praying for others who need wisdom pray, “Lord, please remove the “stupid” in their lives and replace it with your wisdom and understanding.” Help them to see life through your lens.

The results of biblical praying: (besides receiving what is prayed for in v. 9)

1.     Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, v.10

2.     your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. v.10

3.     You will grow as you learn to know God better and better. v.10

4.     You will be strengthened with all his glorious power. v.11

5.     May you be filled with Joy! v.11

Time with God: Filled to be Spilled

All of us have the same 24 hour day, it may look different in your context but each of us only has 24 hours to get life done. If spending time with god is important, you will make time for Him. If it is not, you will constantly offer excuses for not doing it.

          Jesus made decisions after communing with the Father. When you read in Luke 5:16, you see that Jesus made spending time alone with God a priority:  “…Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” The verse prior explains that when Christ’s fame was spreading, the success of his ministry compelled Him to spend more time with God. In the midst of an increasingly busy ministry, He separated from the crowds for quiet time. Since Jesus is our model, He prioritized His time with the Father, shouldn’t we?

          As a small group leader, spending quality time with God must be your chief priority. When your group senses you are spending time with God, they will be more apt to follow your lead. When you can point to times in which you sensed His urging, and He spoke to your heart, you will gain the respect of those in your group. I am not negating being well prepared with the various components of your group, but you are best for your group when you have been in the presence of the living God. Jesus asks us to spend time in the Father’s presence, but He also promises the Father’s reward. Jesus said, ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Matthew 6:6 (NLT) The beauty of this reward is that you don’t have to publicize it or tell others how much time you spend in your personal devotions. Think of it this way, the more opportunities that you allow God to fill your life the more you will have to give or better spill over into the lives of those you share life with. Being in God’s presence doesn’t just mean intense bible study or a lengthy prayer time, nor is it just sitting in a quiet room meditating on a particular characteristic of God; it could be all the above or the proverbial “both and”. Don’t limit the Lord’s presence to a particular method or practice, but allow Him the invitation to speak and move in and through you as He chooses. Our heavenly Father loves to abundantly bless those who seek Him. Remember what the Scripture says: Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT). He will do exceedingly and abundantly above all you can ask or think in and through your life as long as you make Him first in your life and dwell constantly in His presence.

Commit to deepening your encounters with God this next year. It may mean dedicating more time to the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, meditation, fasting, silence and solitude etc. The goal is not in the discipline itself, but allowing the discipline to be a conduit to the Holy. Simply stated, you want more of God than ever before! Again, the more Holy Spirit filling in your life the more Holy Spirit spilling into the lives of those around you.

High Places?

High Places?

I just finished reading the books of Kings, 1 and 2. Intertwined within the verses are stories of the kings of Israel and Judah, their exploits and whether or not they followed the Lord. Out of the twenty rulers of Judah and one Queen, only eight of them could be called “good”. The reoccurring phrase throughout stated: “(the name of the king) son of (whomever) did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all his fathers had done.” The contrasting phrase was similar: ^“He did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.” 2 Kings 22:2 (NASB) This particular king that is referenced is King Josiah. What separates King Josiah and actually King Hezekiah in chapter 18 from all of the other “good” kings was major detail that you see throughout the text, so much so that you get frustrated with the various good kings because they were so close to being completely pure in God’s eyes. The kings would be counted as doing right in the sight on the Lord, HOWEVER, “they did not remove the high places that Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.” So close, they started to get things right but didn’t remove the nagging little idols from the eyes of the people, which resulted later into more idolatry, more sin and really ticked God off. Hezekiah was the first to do a major cleansing of all the idols of the people. He even had the bronze snake removed and destroyed, yes, the same one that Moses put up way back in the wandering wilderness days as a remedy for the snake attack that God made happen due to the nation’s sin. (The people were burning incense to it)

So what does this all mean for you and me? What does this have to do with leadership? Here are a few thoughts to consider:

Because of what Jesus did on the cross and our response to His gracious offer by faith, we are holy in God’s eyes. (He sees us through the blood of His son) So you and I His heirs, His royal priesthood would be considered a “king” that “did right in the sight of the Lord”. The question that needs to be addressed is obvious based on the above text and thought: Have you removed the “high places” the various idols great and small in your life? I personally have not, and cringe at the thought of the phrase added to my obituary, “Rick walked in the ways of the Lord; however, he did not remove the high places that caused his kids and others to sin”. We will be held accountable for the influence we have in the lives of those within our care both positive and negative. I hope I now got your attention. This is really serious and foolish to neglect!

Your high places can be seemingly innocent and even good things and good people, but for whatever reason have become a stronghold in your life, meaning they have become an “over focus” too much of the center of your life. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 (NASB) Example needed? Let’s stay in Matthew 6. What do you worry about? What physical, financial, future, recognition, career, or person that you love and are anxious about? I know the rebuttal, “that is not worry it is a deep concern.” Thanks for playing! For me it is the future of my kids, will I have enough money for retirement, will I leave a good family legacy, will my life impact others beyond today, will I lose my job because of lack of effectiveness, my physical appearance etc. Then there are the many outward pride issues in my life, (I like to be right) or the longing for recognition and the false front of not wanting it. Let me not forget the many unmentionable “high places” that run through my heart and mind that are shameful as a man of God and an abomination to the Lord. (Sorry, those won’t be revealed in this posting). Look at what you pray about in private. Where does your mind go the most especially when you are alone? What sins do you keep confessing over and over again but no victory over? What fantasies do you entertain? What areas, people, places or things ideas are you obsessed about? Can’t think of any? Try again for the very first time. Some would call that denial. Ask the Holy Spirit, your spouse a mentor your small group what they see in your life. Note: just don’t get obsessed looking for what you obsess about.